Guard for an iron



Oct. 25, 1960 P. D. ABBOTT 2,957,257

GUARD FOR AN IRON Filed Sept. 11, 1958 INVENTOR PAUL D. ABBOTT BY l0 -..2a ATTORNEY United States Patent GUARD non AN IRON Paul 1). Abbott, Po. Box 92, Blytheville, Ark.

Filed Sept. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 760,371

4 Claims. 01. 38-89) This invention relates to the care of sheet material including fabrics and the like used for various purposes such as wearing apparel, curtains, linens, household and other articles, and relates also to the equipment employed in such care.

The invention is directed especially to the ironing of articles of sheet material and to the use of ironing equipment without the likelihood of injury to the articles or to the person, occasioned by the intense heat of the iron or the ironing mechanism.

Hand irons of various kinds have been produced and in use have burned either the articles, the ironing board, the persons doing the ironing, or other person accidentally coming in contact with the hot irons. Guards have been produced to prevent injury by contact with the lower high temperature portion of the iron, however, these have not been adequate in that they have failed to afford protection, have interfered with the use of the iron, and they became hot. Also they were difficult to apply and use and rendered the iron clumsy and otherwise were unsatisfactory.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the difficulties enumerated and to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive heat insulating guard for an iron and which is easy to apply and use, will not cause injury upon contact therewith and will not interfere with the normal use of the iron.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guard which will simplify the use of an iron, will prevent any injury or damage by its use, and will make it possible more easily quickly and accurately to iron without injury to the person or an object, and will not detract from the appearance of the iron.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating one application of the invention thereto;

Fig. 2, a perspective of the guard of Fig. 1 of a configuration to fit snugly about and conform to the front tapered end portion of the iron; and

Fig. 3, a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Briefly stated, the guard of the present invention is a thin narrow strip of generally V-shaped form adapted to fit snugly about and conform to the front converging side edges of the iron. It is provided with a central groove along its inner surface in which is located a correspondingly shaped permanent magnet so that in use all that is necessary is for the guard to be applied to the non.

The guard preferably is of heat insulating material so that when ironing a fabric may be held with one hand and the iron used to press close to the fingers without contacting and burning them and without injuring the fabric by contact of the hot iron therewith.

With continued reference to the drawing, an iron is disclosed having a sole or ironing portion 10 carried by a body 11 to which a handle 12 is attached. In the use of the iron, which may be heated in any desired manner, the handle 12 is grasped and by it the body 11 is moved with the bottom portion employed to press and smooth an object.

The front portion of the iron is tapered to a point 13 to provide a maximum pressing surface and since the heat in the iron is concentrated in the lowest portion of the pressing plate, the lower wider edge is likely to come in contact with the person using the iron or fabric or other object and cause damage by the heat.

Accordingly an inverted substantially thin narrow V- shaped guard of heat insulating material 14 is provided having a central groove 15 along the inner surface of the same in which groove is located a correspondingly shaped permanent magnet 16.

The outer surface of the guard increasingly tapers from top to bottom and terminates in a forward tip 17.

The guard is applied to the iron and due to the attraction of the magnet 16 will be held thereon and will prevent the sole or lower pressing surface from engaging or being engaged by the fingers or other objects that might be harmed by the excessive heat. Due to the inclination of the guard tapered outwardly from its upper to its lower edge, it will extend only a slight distance at this lower portion beyond the pressing or tapering surface on the bottom of the iron and the iron may be used for pressing close to a line or point.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is.

1. The combination of an iron of the character used for pressing and having a front end tapered to a point and a flat bottom, of a guard in the form of a relatively thin narrow strip of a shape corresponding to the shape of the tapered portion of the iron, said strip having heat insulating properties and provided with a continuous groove centrally along its inner surface, a permanent magnet in said groove throughout substantially the length of the same and fitting snugly against the iron and connecting the iron and the guard by the attraction of said permanent magnet.

2. The combination with an iron having a forward portion tapering to a point, a heat insulating guard comprising a relatively thin narrow strip of substantially V- shape to conform generally to the outer edge of the lower portion of the iron, a groove along the inner surface of said strip and permanent magnetic means in said groove by which said guard and iron are intimately united by the attraction of said permanent magnet.

3. The combination with an iron of the type which is heated and used for pressing and having a front end portion extending substantially to a point, a guard for said iron in the form of a strip relatively thin and narrow in cross section and of a length to extend along the sides of the iron from the point to the rear thereof, said strip being composed of non-conductive material and having an opening lengthwise thereof, and a magnet anchored in said opening and holding said guard strip on said iron but permitting such guard strip to be readily removed.

4. For use with a pressing iron of the type including a body and a bottom pressing member the side edges of which converge forwardly to a point, a heat insulating guard for the forward portion of said iron, said guard comprising a strip of insulating material of a configuration to conform to the shape of the converging side edges and point of the iron, and magnetic means attached to said strip for mounting the same on said iron, said magnetic means comprising an elongated bar mounted on the inner side of said strip and substantially coextensive therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Stiefel Feb. 4, 1902 Henry Oct. 8, 1940 Scharf May 25, 1943 MacKearnin Apr. 12, 1949 McGraw June 13, 1950 

